Marlins Drop Series Finale in 16 Innings

You thought the 17-inning game against the Cubs would be the most dramatic extra-inning game for the Marlins this year? Well buckle up, kids. The Marlins came from behind to win the first three games of this series, and came back to tie the Giants a total of ten times this week, including once today.

However, the magic ran out late today, and eventually fell to the Giants, 6-3 in 16 innings.

Marlins’ starting pitcher Dan Straily got into trouble early on. In the first inning, he walked Buster Posey, followed by an Andrew McCutchen home run to put the Fish in a 2-0 hole from the get-go. Mac Williamson hit a solo home run in the 2nd to give the Giants the 3-0 lead.

Straily and the bullpen kept the Giants off the board for the next 13 ²⁄₃ innings, including 10 innings of shutout baseball from the bullpen.

Besides a JT Riddle home run in the fifth inning, Dereck Rodriguez—former Marlin Ivan ‘Pudge’ Rodriguez’s son—kept the Marlins offense quiet into the seventh. With two out in the inning, Bryan Holaday singled to score J.B. Shuck to bring the Fish to within a run. Shuck and Holaday had themselves a game, combining to go 6-for-14.

With the Marlins down a run to start the ninth, Starlin Castro hit a difficult fly ball into shallow right field, falling between second baseman Joe Panik, first baseman Pablo Sandoval, and right fielder Andrew McCutchen, ultimately bouncing off of Panik’s glove, allowing Castro to reach second base with no outs. After Riddle grounded out and advanced Castro, Lewis Brinson hit a sacrifice fly to score Castro and tie the game at three after battling Hunter Strickland for nine pitches.

The Giants looked like they might break the tie in the 11th. Brandon Crawford tried going from first to home on a big hit by Alen Hanson. However, with ‘Pudge’ in the house, Shuck, Castro, and Holaday made a relay play that almost mirrors the one made between Jeff Conine and him in the 2003 NLDS—versus the Giants, no less— to keep the score tied and end the inning.

The Marlins were 90 feet away from tying it in the 15th inning. With only one out and Derek Dietrich on third, Justin Bour hit into a double-play to end the inning.

That possibly took the wind out of the sails for the Fish. In his fifth inning of work, Elieser Hernandez allowed the first three batters of the 16th inning to reach base, setting up a two-run single from Pablo Sandoval, breaking the tie. The Giants would notch one more run before the end of the inning.

The Marlins battled once more in the bottom of the 16th. Down to their final out, Brinson and Shuck got back-to-back hits, bringing the tying run to the plate in Holaday. Unfortunately for the Fish, Holaday flied out to right, ending the 4:49 hour affair.

It’s not about the size of the linescore, it’s about how you use it.

After using six relievers for eleven innings, it’s extremely likely the Marlins will activate reliever Brett Graves from the disabled list before tomorrow’s game at Baltimore. Graves is a Rule-5 draft pick taken this Winter. He has a 5.59 ERA in 19 ¹⁄₃ innings during his minor league rehab, ranging from High-A to Double-A.

Fangraphs

Kingfish: J.B. Shuck (-0.03 WPA)

Flounder: Justin Bour (-0.36)

Moment of the game: Pablo Sandoval’s two-run single in the 16th

Please leave any Icthy picks in the comments below. Remember, we introduced a new grand prize for the contest this season!

The Marlins enter today’s game looking for their first sweep of the year.

However, it hasn’t been an easy three games, thus far. The Fish had to come from behind three separate times last night before Brian Anderson delivered with his first walk-off hit of his career. The Marlins hope his bat stays hot this afternoon. Over the last 15 days, he’s hit for a .404/.467/.654 slash with 9 RBI.

Dereck Rodríguez will be on the mound for the Giants. If he looks familiar today, that‘s because he’s the son of former Marlin, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez. The rookie is 1-1 with a 5.25 ERA in three starts, but he’s coming off a troubling start against the Nationals, in which he allowed 5 runs in 2.2 IP.

Pitching for the Marlins will be Dan Straily. Straily is 2-2 with a 4.08 ERA. He only lasted 3 ²⁄₃ innings and allowed 4 runs in his last outing, when he took a line drive off of his ribcage in the 1st inning.

Thread Question: Which Marlin has the best case for making the All-Star Game this year?